United States Still Urging Immediate End to Suffering in Darfur
11 April 2006
Also calls for cooperation on transition to U.N. peacekeeping force there
By Charles W. Corey
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The United States has engaged and will continue "to engage the Sudanese government at all appropriate levels and venues to help stop immediately the suffering and dying in Darfur and cooperate on the transition to a United Nations peacekeeping operation" there, the office of the State Department spokesman said April 10 in a written response to a question.
U.S. officials "have all been working hard every day on the Darfur crisis and the pressing need to establish a United Nations-led peacekeeping mission in Darfur," the department said.
The officials include President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, U.S. Representative to the United Nations John Bolton, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations Kristen Silverberg, Senior Representative for Sudan Michael Ranneberger, the Deputy Secretary's Special Representative on Sudan Roger Winter and others, according to the statement.
On April 8 and April 9, at the African Union-mediated peace talks on Darfur in Abuja, Nigeria, the State Department said, "senior United States officials -- Ambassador Ranneberger, Ambassador [John] Yates, and Chargé [Cameron] Hume -- met with Sudanese V.P. [Second Vice President Ali Osman] Taha and other Sudanese government officials to press them for their cooperation on the establishment of a United Nations-led peacekeeping mission in Darfur."
In addition to "pushing" the Sudanese government and the rebel movements for a greater sense of urgency to reach a peace accord on Darfur, "United States officials underscored the importance of the Sudanese government's cooperation in ending the violence and needless suffering and dying in Darfur, as well as supporting the speedy transition of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to a larger, more robust United Nations peacekeeping operation as called for by the African Union, as noted in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1663 on March 24, 2006.”
The United Nations is already in Southern Sudan with the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and its humanitarian staff tending to the humanitarian needs of the region's people following the end of the 21-year civil war between Northern and Southern Sudan, the statement noted.
U.N. SUPPORT FOR AFRICAN UNION EFFORTS
In a separate development, the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) April 11 offered its full support to the African Union for its efforts to achieve lasting peace in Darfur and reiterated "in the strongest terms" the need for all parties to put an immediate end to the violence and atrocities there, saying that persisting violence in Darfur further might affect the rest of the country and region and undermine the security of Chad.
The UNSC took issue with several actions by the Government of National Unity, including its decision to deny the entry of U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland to Darfur, and asked for an explanation of its decision.
The UNSC reiterated its full support for the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on the Conflict in Darfur in Abuja, noting that an inclusive political settlement is key to peace in Sudan, that the talks provide a mechanism to achieve such a settlement and that the African Union should maintain leadership.
It welcomed the timely involvement of the chair of the African Union and the president of Nigeria in the talks during their April 8 visit to Abuja, and affirmed that April 30 is the final deadline for reaching an agreement.
For additional information, see Darfur Humanitarian Emergency.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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